Fruit-picking stand



(No Model.)

J. 0. GREENLOW. FRUIT PICKING STAND.

No. 426,267. Patented Apr. 22, 1890.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JESSE C. GREENLO'W, OF PEPPERIVOOD, CALIFORNIA.

FRUIT-PICKING STAND.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 426,267, dated April 22, 1890.

Application filed July 17, 1889. Serial No. 317,787. (No model.)

.To (0% whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J nssn O. GnEnNLow, of Pepperwood, in the county of Humboldt and State of California, have invented a new and Improved Fruit-Picking Stand, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved stand specially designed for conveniently supporting one or more persons engaged in picking fruit, and also supporting the baskets or boxes to receive the fruit.

The invention consists of certain parts and details and combinations of the same, as will be fully described hereinafter, and then pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improvement, and Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective View of part of the movable platform and part of the post.

The improved fruit-picking stand A is provided with a base B, preferably made in the shape of an equilateral triangle, as shown in the drawings. The base B is placed horizontally and is supported by the wheels 0 O and the steering-Wheel D, mounted under the apex of the equilateral triangle in a fork E, extending through the base 15, and carrying at its upper end. a tongue F, which is pivoted on the projecting end of the said fork. The tongue F provides for drawing this base forward or backward, and at the same time turning the fork E in which the wheel D is mounted, so that the said wheel can be turned in any desired direction, thus steering the stand.

The base B is provided in its middle with a brace-beam 13, adapted to be engaged by the forked. end G of a post G, held in place by braces I-I, extending from the corners of the base B onto the sides of the post G under an offset G secured on the said post a suitable distance above the base B. The braces II are removable, so as to permit of taking down the post G or setting it up whenever desired.

On the post G is held to slide vertically a platform I, preferably made in the shape of an equilateral triangle, placed in a correspond ing position with the base I The platform I is provided with an upwardly-extending sleeve J, fitting the post G, and provided near its upper end with suitable bearings in which is mounted to turn a shaft K, carryin g a gearwheel L meshing into a rack N, secured to one side of the post G.

On one outer end of the shaft K is secured a crank-arm O for conveniently turning the said shaft K when the operator is standing on the platform I. A ratchet-wheel P is secured on the said shaft K, and is adapted to be engaged by a pawl Q, fulcrumed on the sleeve J, and connected bya chain R with a treadle S, adapted to be engaged by the operators foot to release the pawl Q from the ratchetwheel P, whenever desired.

On one side of the base B is secured an upwardlyextending short ladder T, which serves for conveniently reaching the platform I when the latter is in its lowermost positionthat is, resting on the offset G The operation is as follows: The platform I is fastened onto the post G, and the latter is then set with its forked end G on the beam B of the base B, and then the braces II are set in the right position to hold the post G in place. The operator now takes hold of the tongue F and pulls the stand in. among the trees from which the fruit is to be picked, the peculiar shape of the platform I and the base B permitting of its easy passage among the trees. hen the desired place has been reached, baskets or boxes are placed on the platform I, and the operator, by passing up the steps of the ladder T, steps 011 the platform I, from which he can conveniently pick the fruit from the tree. When the operator desires to raise the platform I to reach higher branches of the trees, he turns the crank-arm 0 so that the shaft K is turned, and the gearwheel L travels upward on the rack N, thus elevating the platform I and its contents. As soon as the desired height has been reached, the operator stops turning the crank-arm O, the pawl Q engages the ratchet I and locks the same in place, thus preventing the return motion of the shaft K, and consequently of the platform I. hen the baskets have been filled with fruit or the operator desires to change his position again, he presses 011 the ICC treadle S, so that the pawl Q is disengaged. from the ratchet-wheel P, and at the same time the operator takes hold of the crank-arm O andturns the latter, so that the gear-wheel L travels downward 011 the rack N. The platform I now descends until it rests on the offset G The filled baskets can then be conveniently moved, and the operator steps down onto the ground by means of the ladder T, and changes the position of the stand, as desired and as previously described.

As the platform I can be removed from the post G, and the latter being taken down from the base 13, the several parts thus disconnected can be conveniently stored or placed on a Wagon for transmission from one place to another.

The base is triangular in form to allow it to be supported on three wheels and be capable of turning between and among trees much more readily than could a square base of the same length, and the triangular form of the stand I permits its apex to part the limbs and branches of trees withoutbreaking them when the stand is moved from place to place. The triangular form of the stand also permits it to be pushed in toward the trunk of a tree, so that the person may pick fruit from limbs or branches which could not be reached at all if a square or oblong platform were employed.

Having thus-described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1-. A fruit-pickers stand comprising a base provided with wheels, a vertical poston the base, a triangular platform through which the post passes, and means for raising and lowering the platform, substantially as set forth.

2. A fruit-pickers stand comprising a triangular basehaving wheels at the ends of the base and a guide-wheel at its apex, avertical post proj ectin g from the base, and averticallyadjustable triangular platform on the said post with its apex projecting in the same direction as that of the base, substantially as set forth.

3. A separable fruit-pickers stand consisting in the rigid triangular base 13, having wheels O O at the ends of the base and the guide-wheels D at the apex, the vertical post G, having its lower end G forked and engaging a cross-bar of the base, the three removable braces extending from the three corners of the base to the post, and the triangular platform I, vertically adjustable on the post and removable therefrom, and the apex of the platform projecting in the same direction as that of the base, substantially as set forth. JESSE O. GREENLOVV.

\Vitnesses:

ERNEST SEVIER, T. H. SELVAGE. 

